A Viking-age cemetery at Cumwhitton, Cumbria.

In March 2004, a Cumbrian metal detectorist was given permission to examine farmland on the western edge of Cumwhitton (NY 503 525), a small village in the Eden Valley, south-east of Carlisle. There he found an object in the ploughsoil which was subsequently identified as a Viking oval brooch of ninth- or tenth-century date. These are almost always found in pairs, and in a burial context. Peter Adams therefore returned to the site and did indeed find a second brooch. Given the rarity of these in England, this was clearly of national importance, so funding was secured for an evaluation of the findspot, to ascertain whether the brooches really did come from a burial. A grave was located, containing only fragments of skull at the west end, which had clearly been disturbed by recent ploughing, though it was still richly furnished with grave goods. The presence of the oval brooches strongly implied that this was the burial of a high-status woman. Several more artefacts of early medieval date were found in the surrounding ploughsoil by metal detecting during the evaluation. These included fragments of another oval brooch, a key, and part of a sword, suggesting that the grave had been part of a cemetery. Due to the threat of further plough damager an excavation to record this important site was then funded by English Heritage in the summer of 2004, as it was under immediate threat from ploughing. In total, six burials were found, all dating to the early tenth century, though almost no skeletal material survived because of the acidic nature of the soil. Though the material was poorly preserved, the careful and detailed process of excavation, conservation, and analysis was proposed to maximise the wealth of information that could be recovered from these objects concerning their original appearance, manufacture, and use.